I’ve started modeling maps in Valve’s Hammer editor to run in CS for my architecture presentations, but to be honest they look a bit shabby. Not to mention the editor props (and custom ones online) aren’t what I need, such as refrigerators, modern tables, etc. Are there any other game engine editors like hammer that look good, are about as easy to use as Hammer, and have more of an architecture based prop selection? By architecture based I mean clean and fitting in building spaces.
I haven’t tryed the one called The Unreal engine but i have seen what it can do and its really really good. You can download it free of Steam in your tools tab.
max ed
Wouldn’t ArchiCAD be a better idea, being specifically for that kind of thing.
A friend of mine who used to map for several years for HL2dm went trying other engines lately and he’s been telling me that Fallout 3 and Crysis 2 tools are great. I’ve never tried them, tbh, but coming from this person in particular I must say it caught my interest.
Source engine is great because it’s very easy, and the way it handles BSP geometry is very convenient, but it’s not very good at rendering shadows, lighting, colors, and a lot of other things without “a little trickiness” from the part of the mappers…
But for real architecture I think the suggestion above, from mental2k, may be the best choice. I never tried/seen that one in particular, but I know CAD’s are specifically made for that. But that will depend on your ultimate goal, I guess.
I recommend UDK (Unreal Engine 3) you can import models with one click, edit materials and properties in real-time and refresh any files with one click.
I’ll give UDK a try. Seems nice, aside from being “currently unavailable” according to a dialog box.
Now all I need is a thousand dollar rig to run the thing. Thanks though, looks sweet.
Btw, this is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgicXh8xfs4 Now that’s something AutoCAD can’t do.
Was that made in UDK after all?
Looks amazing. Nice houses btw.
You don’t need a supercomputer to run UDK.
UDK3 MIN SPECS:
Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
2.0+ GHz processor
2 GB system RAM
SM3-compatible video card
3 GB free hard drive space.
UDK3 REC SPECS:
Windows Vista 64 SP2
2.0+ GHz multi-core processor
8 GB system RAM
NVIDIA 8000 series or higher graphics card
Plenty of HDD space.
I’m surprised you don’t know who Epic Games is.
I don’t think he said anything like that…
Crysis 2 and GECK are both sandbox model based engines. They serve a different purpose: open world environments with lots of terrain.
This is a key problem. Hard drive space too but only for me.
Makes sense. Since my friend always had a “thing” large open maps, or at least engines that can handle them. 
Maybe not very appropriate for this matter then.
I never really ‘got’ the GECK. Sure, it’s easy to make NPCs, notes, and weapons (Super ROF AutoShotty, for example), but I could never get the hang of merchants, quests, dialog, or terrain. I should probably take another swing at it, but the learning curve is a lot steeper than Hammer or UED.